Editorial:The crawling decentralisation process

The Prime Minister’s recent ultimatum to what has been described as feet- dragging ministers, has not come as a surprise to many, but rather, as a belated reminder. There can be no excuse for such a high sense of dereliction of duty for anyone to sit comfortably on what the constitution has clearly defined.

A centralised system of government was justifiably perceived as a clog on the wheel of development, and the only positive option was to reverse the trend to an effective decentralisation that will devolve powers to small and even smaller units. It, however, required a legal document to not only protect this reform, but define the form of our reforms.

This was particularly necessitated by the stalemate of the early 90’s that almost rocked the boat, leading to the Tripartite Talks, from where the idea of decentralisation was muted. It therefore became a matter to be embodied in the constitution, in Law No. 96/06 of 18 January 1996.

By this law decentralisation acquired the necessary legal protection, legitimacy and definition. On the strength of the provisions of Article 55 of the constitution, the form of the decentralisation was defined as a three-tiered system of governance, breaking the country into smaller administrative units with certain guarantees of financial or even administrative autonomy. The constitution recognised the regions and the local council institutions as the main focus of our decentralisation.

This, therefore, means that decentralised local entities, that is the regional councils or assemblies and local or municipal councils, shall be legal entities already recognised and protected by the constitution and recognised by public law.

Under this protection and recognition, these entities shall enjoy administrative and financial autonomy in the management of their various units and communities and shall be elected to such position through a universal franchise.

Decentralisation can therefore be perceived as the near end of a long trek towards a well defined democratic society.

The Prime Minister’s ultimatum comes up to rekindle the disappointment of many concerned citizens who have waited for too long for this process to move forward. To some, disappointment is not strong enough to properly illustrate the disgust of the people against those who deliberately block the smooth movement of the process of decentralisation, to their criminal advantage.

Since 1996 when this provision was embodied in the constitution passed into Law and promulgated by the Head of State, is quite an age, yet the issue has continued to be treated leisurely by those who matter there at the top.

We are convinced that the snail-paced process is mostly due to resistance by those who have been fighting against the process. Notwithstanding, the delay is not justified, taking into account the fact that so much is believed to have been put in place to push the process forward and even faster.

For instance a whole department was immediately attached to the Ministry of Territorial Administration to oversee the process following the voting of the specific law on decentralisation in 2004.

A common decentralisation fund was created by Article 23 (1) of the Orientation Law intended for the steering and evaluation of the decentralisation process, involving a national decentralisation council and an inter-ministerial committee of local services.

All these, we have been told, make up for the basic frame work that was designed to direct those involved in the decentralisation. So why must Cameroonians wait for so long for what has already been made simply by the legal process?

Perhaps the most disturbing thing in this hold-up is the fate of mayors of councils who have no salaries and have to depend on little allowances. So are we fully justified to cry foul when they secretly deep their hands into public coffers? There is need to also review the situation of councillors.

Wouldn’t it be normal for councillors to have monthly allowances rather than waiting for stipends during sessions? These are certainly major problems, among many others, that are very tightly tied to the centralised system from which we must liberate ourselves. The pace of our development largely depends on this impending reform.

There have been a lot of misgivings on this process right from the onset, with many insisting that what we have is merely a deconcentration of powers not devolution or decentralisation in its true meaning. The current situation only goes to justify those misgivings.

So, Mr. Prime Minister let your ultimatum not end up in thin air and disappear. Cameroonians rely on you for action this time around.